From my interaction with many human resource professionals, I have come to learn majority of them started out as Recruiters / Talent Acquisition Specialists. After all, how will you go on accomplishing all the functions relating to the staff members if you do not participate in hiring them in the first place, or having an idea of how they join the company?
Interesting thing is that you do not need to study human resources to be a recruiter in the Recruitment Agency world, but it is a good foundation to have nonetheless.
Formal education aside, you need to have a deep interest in people, a curious mind and a knack of understanding business as a recruiter basically solves business problems by getting Employers great candidates. An awesome personality can go along way too.
So for all of you out there wondering how you can be a great recruiter, below are tips from my personal experience (I am sure there are many more our there).
Genuine Interest in People
Recruiting is about people and you need to be deeply interested in them as their careers affect their livelihood. There is nothing as heartbreaking as a candidate starting a new job, thanks to a recruiter only to discover the Employer is not worth to be called an Employer. When you care deeply for people’s careers, it means you will go an extra to research about potential Employer before presenting the opportunity to candidates.
Know the Labour Laws
All countries have employment and labour laws. You want to work in line with those guidelines, so do your homework, be on the look out for amendments etc. You will stand out as well as you are also a consultant to Clients and Candidates alike.
Hone your sales skills
So, sales skills are key and they include but not limited to; ability to quickly form a good rapport on phone and in person, great written and verbal communication skills, negotiation skills and basically lots of follow ups with business leads and candidates. In other words, ‘Be a Rockstar’.
Patience is a virtue
If you think you are patient, then give recruiting a try and wait till Clients take forever to make a job offer, or a candidate has longer notice periods. As much as ‘speed is the new currency of business’, you will need lots of patience in the world of recruiting.
Have Fun in the process
There is a lot more to recruiting that we can build on, but for now, have fun. Enjoy it all. And all the best.
Follow me @KenyanRecruiter and let us engage on other things that make a recruiter great.